# The Amazing Race 12/5/14 - "Smells Like Dirty Tube Socks" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 6, 2014, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-amazing-race-12-5-14-smells-like-dirty-tube-socks/706466 "2014-12-06T02:28:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2014, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-amazing-race-12-5-14-smells-like-dirty-tube-socks/706466/21 "2014-12-08T17:11:51Z")
The timing of the episode said it almost had to be an NEL. The pit stop in the middle of nowhere clinched it. Pit stops in the middle of nowhere are always NELs. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2014, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-amazing-race-12-5-14-smells-like-dirty-tube-socks/706466/22 "2014-12-08T18:24:21Z")
> [@Quimby](#): > > The timing of the episode said it almost had to be an NEL. The pit stop in the middle of nowhere clinched it. Pit stops in the middle of nowhere are always NELs. The two other NEL this season were not in the Middle of Nowhere. Copenhagen and Sicily. The Shetland Islands and the second Moroccan leg could be construed as the Middle of Nowhere. And they were elimination legs. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Burden](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/958977/32.png) [@Jack\_Burden](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Burden)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2014, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-amazing-race-12-5-14-smells-like-dirty-tube-socks/706466/23 "2014-12-08T18:38:54Z")
> [@magnusblitz](#): > > Eh, I thought it was pretty obvious it was gonna be a non-elimination leg. Bunch all the teams together, some not-really-challenges at the start (go here, get a clue, ride a cab, get another clue…) followed by challenges which were just physically arduous but somewhat luck. Plus the history of this particular challenge, where Colin and Christie were saved by the NEL. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2014, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-amazing-race-12-5-14-smells-like-dirty-tube-socks/706466/24 "2014-12-08T19:30:59Z")
> [@notfrommensa](#): > > The two other NEL this season were not in the Middle of Nowhere. Copenhagen and Sicily. > > The Shetland Islands and the second Moroccan leg could be construed as the Middle of Nowhere. And they were elimination legs. Correct, NEL Pit Stops aren’t always in the middle of nowhere but Pit Stops in the middle of Nowhere are always NELs. If there are tents set up for them to sleep, it’s an NEL. ---
**Author:** ![magnusblitz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b4bc9f/32.png) [@magnusblitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magnusblitz)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2014, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-amazing-race-12-5-14-smells-like-dirty-tube-socks/706466/25 "2014-12-08T22:54:05Z")
> [@EllisDee](#): > > Also it had to be a NEL because the save wasn’t used. If it had been used, you think they would’ve deep-sixed another NEL? Hadn’t thought of that, but makes sense, gotta keep the amount of episodes the same. I was also just thinking there’s usually three NELs, there had been two already, and they’re much more likely to do one with four teams remaining than with the final three. ---
**Author:** ![lorene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/65b543/32.png) [@lorene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lorene)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2014, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-amazing-race-12-5-14-smells-like-dirty-tube-socks/706466/26 "2014-12-08T22:55:28Z")
My clue that it was an NEL was when Phil hadn’t said anything to the first 2 teams about making it to the final 3. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2014, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-amazing-race-12-5-14-smells-like-dirty-tube-socks/706466/27 "2014-12-09T17:04:40Z")
> [@lorene](#): > > My clue that it was an NEL was when Phil hadn’t said anything to the first 2 teams about making it to the final 3. I hadn’t thought about that, but in retrospect it’s a dead giveaway. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2014, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-amazing-race-12-5-14-smells-like-dirty-tube-socks/706466/28 "2014-12-09T18:02:59Z")
> [@Quimby](#): > > Correct, NEL Pit Stops aren’t always in the middle of nowhere but Pit Stops in the middle of Nowhere are always NELs. If there are tents set up for them to sleep, it’s an NEL. Pretty sure that slept on the beach in the Shetland Islands. ---
**Author:** ![interface2x](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@interface2x](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/interface2x)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2014, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-amazing-race-12-5-14-smells-like-dirty-tube-socks/706466/29 "2014-12-09T18:55:09Z")
> [@Terminus\_Est](#): > > Given the rainy weather and the freshly-transplanted state of the rice paddies, I’d say this episode was filmed sometime in June. I looked it up earlier this season - it was. I think they started filming on the last day of May and ended around the last week of June. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2014, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-amazing-race-12-5-14-smells-like-dirty-tube-socks/706466/30 "2014-12-09T22:01:30Z")
> [@interface2x](#): > > I looked it up earlier this season - it was. I think they started filming on the last day of May and ended around the last week of June. I remember when they were leaving Copenhagen, it was about 9:30 pm. And there was a lot of daylight. So it had to be close to the summer solstice. ---
**Author:** ![interface2x](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@interface2x](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/interface2x)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2014, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-amazing-race-12-5-14-smells-like-dirty-tube-socks/706466/31 "2014-12-10T00:48:06Z")
Yep, according to [this forum thread](http://forums.previously.tv/topic/8273-tar25-route-spoilers-no-elimination-info/), they were in Copenhagen on June 7th. The Phillipines leg was June 19-20. ---
**Author:** ![Motorgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e36b37/32.png) [@Motorgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Motorgirl)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2014, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-amazing-race-12-5-14-smells-like-dirty-tube-socks/706466/32 "2014-12-10T03:02:11Z")
> [@interface2x](#): > > Yep, according to [this forum thread](http://forums.previously.tv/topic/8273-tar25-route-spoilers-no-elimination-info/), they were in Copenhagen on June 7th. The Phillipines leg was June 19-20. According to [this table](http://www.timeanddate.com/sun/denmark/copenhagen?month=6) sunset in Copenhagen on June 7 was 9:49 pm. So yes, lots of daylight that late in the evening. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-amazing-race-12-5-14-smells-like-dirty-tube-socks/706466.md?page=1)